Mirage: X Genome
by Naraz
Summary: They took his family, they tried to take his life; now he's after theirs
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
The year is 3076, after the ancient Cold War hatreds between the U.S. and the Soviet Union arose from the ashes like a phoenix, a period of nuclear holocaust ensued. The destructive capabilities of the en-masse assault on the world were greater and more devastating then anyone could have ever imagined; and the technological world as we knew it was annihilated until no trace remained. Sky scrapers were returned to dust, and the world we once knew and loved, no longer existed.  
  
But out of chaos comes order, and from a new human race emerged, although their origins are still clouded. For many centuries, a sort of peace ruled the land, but this was not to be. Some of the humans began to change, their DNA had been mutated as result of our dark past; and a new race emerged, a race with an unquenchable thirst for human blood. Deemed "Hanyou", they could control the elements at their will. At first their assaults upon villages were random, and though they were superior, we held against them with our sheer numbers; but it was only a matter of time until they began to organize.  
  
Under the command of one who took the name "Kaine", controller of the shadow, an army was created. Using their mystical powers, the human race was soon domesticated; bred for food. We were powerless against them, none of our kind holding such power. But this too, was not to last.  
  
Love between a human and a Hanyou was forbidden for fear this elemental trait be passed between races. I am the manifestation of this fear. Son of the Hanyou priestess of the Earth, Gaiya, and the human farmer, Yuki Motoe, I am a half-breed. My family slain before my eyes and myself hunted, I have everything to gain and nothing to lose by fighting back.  
  
My name is Shino Motoe, the bridge between the four earthly elements. My water burns like acid, my fire rages black with hatred, the electricity running through my veins knows no bounds, and my wind cuts like razors. With powers that can match a Hanyou's, I am the human race's last hope for freedom.  
  
I was 8 when my powers first manifested. First noticed by my mother, she looked kindly upon my abilities and personally trained me to control them. However, what caught the attention of the authorities was not the fact that I had these abilities, but that I could control the earthly elements in whole. I was the only one to ever have control of more than one element; and further inspection and unauthorized draconian tests of my blood proved to show why.  
  
Hanyou blood disappeared in water, and human blood just sort of mixes in with the water, tinting it red, but my blood gently rest on top of the water, and slowly the water itself became my blood. It was evident that I wasn't a pure-blooded Hanyou, and so they came at night. Hundreds strong, they stormed the small village in which I lived, sparing no one. My own mother was defeated by Kaine himself, right in front of me; I only managed to escape when he underestimated the extent of my powers. My wind forever leaves a scar where his left eye used to be. I made it to the forgotten forests of Fa'Reah in the northern lands, where I cultivated my skills for 9 years; my final destination, the heartlands of Des'Morath, the "Kingdom of Kaine".  
  
They took my life, now I come for theirs. 


	2. An Unlikely Assistance

Chapter One: An Unlikely Assistance  
  
It was late evening when Shino returned to the small hut in the forests of Fa'Reah. Exhausted from a full days practice, he immediately fell down on the now tattered brown quilt, the only remaining memorabilia from his childhood. His long black hair scattered across his face, sweat on his brow, he just lay on the ground breathing heavily, quickly falling asleep. He was awakened a short time later by the sound of a twig snapping under foot outside.  
  
From the years he'd spent living in the forest, he could estimate the distance and approximate height, weight, and speed of the intruder. Smirking under his breath, he spoke silently to himself, "It's a woman... about 5'6", 120lbs... 50m and counting..." he gently sniffed the air as a slightly evil grin creeps onto his face "Hanyou..."  
  
With renewed strength, he began an intercept course, following his nose and the sound of the woman's footsteps. His right hand on the hilt of a beautifully crafted katana that rested at his left side, he sped through the forest, weaving through the trees until he came across a clearing. In it he spotted the Hanyou woman, running from an oversized Tenma*.  
  
"You have been judged by the Hand of Fate, your punishment... is death!" raged the Tenma, brandishing a claymore in one hand; he began to bring down the gargantuan sword upon the woman. Her shrieks of fear echoed across the plains, but under her screams of terror, the sound of metal on metal could be heard.  
  
Shino had instinctively rushed to help the woman, it was only too late he remembered she was a Hanyou. "Run you vile creature, lest you wish to become my next victim!" He shouted at the woman angrily, looking over his shoulder. It was then that he noticed her astounding beauty; her well defined cheeks, her beautiful tanned skin, her "developed" upper body. In fact she at first glance, could have easily been mistaken for a human; the only hint of her Hanyou genetics was her catlike tail and slightly pointed ears.  
  
Distracted by the beauty, Shino lost his concentration in guarding the blow, and the Tenma slammed his left fist into Shino's stomach, launching him a good 25 feet. "Hah! A human? I'm surprised you managed to parry my blow, but nonetheless, YOU WILL DIE!" The Tenma charged Shino's fallen body, only to have it disappear right in front of his eyes.  
  
"What?! Impossible..." the Tenma guard shouted. Then, he heard a whisper in his left ear; it was the boy's voice, "X Genome". The Tenma guard's eyes widened as he realized all too late that Shino was behind him. In a flash, the sound of metal slashing through metal and flesh was heard, and the Tenma guard was engulfed in a black flame, the ferocity of which seemed to come from hell itself. The black flame receded back into the sword, leaving nothing of the guard except for the now scorched land on which he once stood. The sword still in his extended right arm from the attack, his voice is heard again in a weak whisper, "Hidden Technique #1 - Hell Fire Sword".  
  
A smile appears on his face as he sheathes his sword. As he looks to the forest, he sees the woman hiding in the tree lines; she's not much younger then him, approximately 18 years of age. As he takes a step to walk towards her, he falls to the ground, apparently completely out of energy. The last image he sees before he blacks out is that of the woman rushing to his aid. 


	3. Xiaoli

Chapter Two: Xiaoli  
  
With a quiet grunt of discomfort, Shino started to come to. It was mid- afternoon when he awoke. These sleeping patterns were unusual for him, living a life always on the run. Almost subconsciously, he tried to stretch, a morning ritual; to his horror, his snapped his eyes open to find his arms and legs bound with rope, and the astoundingly beautiful Hanyou girl in the corner on his small mud-hut.  
  
His eyes full of rage; he shot her a look that could have caused Hell to freeze over. "So this is the payment I get for saving your life?!" The girl had an extremely frightened look on her face, and tried to hide herself further in the corner. Soon his rage turned to a silent composure, which only served to make the Hanyou her more frightened. "No matter... such bonds won't hold me.  
  
Outside the hut, the whistling of an extremely violent wind could be heard. Shino's eyes had glazed over in white in utter concentration. The Hanyou girl made to run outside and escape, but once she looked up, she felt safer inside. The skies, once clear and sun filled, had turned an ominous dark gray; in to distance, the sound of lightening striking the ground could be heard; torrential rains started to pound the forest line. The elements themselves were going haywire.  
  
She turned her attention back to Shino, trying to compose herself; but his state now was more frightening then anything happening outside. An extremely powerful flame aura had manifested itself around him right before her eyes. In a matter of seconds, the ropes had burnt away to ash, which in turn burned away to nothing before it could hit the ground. Now standing, he looked to face her.  
  
For the first time, he heard her speak, "No... Stay back... d-d-demon!" Tears freely flowed from her eyes, and her cries and screams of fright soothed his heart and his mind. The aura around him slowly dwindles until it finally dematerialized completely. He walks slowly to the girl now huddled in the corner; her eyes clamped shut and whimpering, he gently stroked her face affectionately. She looked up slowly, expecting the frightening powers of a warlord to be before her, but found the gentle, smiling face of a boy who was at most one year older then her?  
  
"What's your name?" Shino asked the girl, his voice much calmer and friendlier. The girl looked up at him confused as to the compassion and kindness she was being shown. "X-x-x-Xiaoli..." she managed to stutter out, still quite frightened. Shino smiled at her again, and then began to look at the surroundings.  
  
It was unmistakably his own hut, his possessions had been cleaned and organized, assumedly by the girl... except for one item; his beautifully crafted weapon. He looked at the position of the dropped blade, the tip pointed towards the entrance. At first he thought nothing of the weapon, figuring that he must have dropped it sometime last night. He went to pick it up, but upon first touch of the hilt, he paused... it was still warm.  
  
He lifted the sword gently and brought it to his nose, he breathed in deeply, shivering almost, a look of happiness on his face. Xiaoli immediately started to cower in the corner again, as if she thought if she pushed hard enough into it, she might be able to disappear from his sights. "I... it's not what you think... I would never strike one who sleeps..."  
  
Shino looked at her and laughed. "You have no reason to fear me, Xiaoli. If you had intended to kill me, to blade would not be pointing towards the door. The fact that the hilt points in my direction has me assume that..." he paused and smiles appreciatorily at her "... that you watched over me as I slept... but why did you have me bound?"  
  
Although her face was cloaked in the shadows of the corner, it was quite evident that she was blushing rather deeply. Still pressing against the wall of the corner, she started to stand. "I... well... you said... you would kill me..." He looks at her, a puzzled expression on his face, but soon burst out in gentle laughter once again. "Heh... I guess I did say that... well... I won't, don't worry. You're safe with me."  
  
For the first time, he saw her smile. She started to walk towards him, before she collapses into his arms, knocking him onto the ground. He looks down at her, her head resting on his chest, exhaustion evident in her eyes. "Thank you" she says before drifting off into a quiet and deep slumber. 


	4. Her Story

Chapter Three: Her Story  
  
Hours later, Xiaoli came too with a start. Instead of rearing up, however, she tightly gripped her hands into her "mattress" and buried her face into it, shivers of fright circulating her body. She was quite distraught and confused when Shino gently rested his arms around her and stroked her shoulders. She slowly looked up, tears in her eyes, and looked at him sorrowfully.  
  
"I... I'm sorry, I was so tired... I just..." her face turning scarlet red as she tried to speak her mind clearly. Shino just laughed light-heartedly and looked into her eyes. "It's nothing to worry about. You looked so peaceful; I didn't wish to move to wake you." Xiaoli stood up and started to pace the room, stretching her arms and yawning, before pushing away the curtain in front of the entrance. It was late afternoon, she noticed. She could see the outline of the moon slowly appear as the sun set behind the Crystal Mountains to the east.  
  
Shino broke the silence with a calm tone, "Why was that Tenma guard after you?" Xiaoli pauses for about a minute before finally answering. At first Shino thought she was ignoring or avoiding the question, so he dropped the subject and was about to say something else when her voice rang out, "I spoke kindly of the half-breed," she said quietly, her words revealing to Shino that she didn't realize what he was.  
  
"The Tenma guard overheard me talking with a friend about the killings in the small village of Kyalma, and how the Hanyou population was eradicated. I said that it was only retribution for what we had done to them... since then I've been on the run... that was 2 years ago."  
  
He looked at her, quite impressed. "You managed to elude the Tenma guard for two years? I'm impressed." She looked at him and blushed deeply, her face once again becoming scarlet red. "What about you?" Xiaoli asked Shino inquisitively. "Why are you out here? And why did you kill that Tenma guard?"  
  
Shino paused for a few seconds before responding nonchalantly, "I'm the same as you, the Tenma heard me talking about the half-breed respectfully." He didn't know why he was covering up what and who he was; all he knew is that he didn't want to upset or frighten her. He looked at her and laughed, "But they seem to have forgotten me, or assumed me dead. I ran into Fa'Reah and somewhere over the course of the past 4 years, they seem to have stopped tracking me." Xiaoli looked at him and smiled, saying under her breath, "Liar." But Shino never heard her.  
  
Shino walked up next to her, and started to look at the sky with her. He jumped when she started to grab hold of his arm and gently lean on his shoulder. She started giggling almost out of the blue, covering her still blushing face with her right hand, her eyes now looking at his face, "Umm... you still haven't told me YOUR name..." Shino looked down at her and laughed, her cute face and gentle eyes completely destroyed his defensive barrier, and he told her the truth. "My name is Shino. Shino Motoe"  
  
"Shino...Motoe..." she said the words dreamily, before closing her eyes and leaning further into his arms. Out in the distance, a hoarse voice resonated out, "Xiaoli! Xiaoli! I am Akron - Lord of Fire; one of the "8 Heroes of Tenma"! I am here for your head!" Xiaoli started to shiver and cry into Shino's shoulder.  
  
"Don't let him hurt me, Shino. Please!" she looked into his eyes longingly, barely able to hold back the tears. Akron bellowed somewhere north of the clearing where Shino first met Xiaoli. Shino smiled as he was just notified of Akron's approximate location. "Follow me," he told Xiaoli, "I go to meet him head on. If it looks like I might loose, head for the Crystal Mountains to the east. I have a stronghold at the end of the path." Xiaoli nodded and they started off back to the clearing. 


	5. Akron

Chapter Four: Akron  
  
The sun began to set behind the mountains, filling the sky with a purple hue. Shino reached the clearing within 2 minutes of the ultimatum, but was shocked at what he found. Standing before him was Hanyou man, only about as old as himself. He was wearing a black jumpsuit more or less, the pants held up by a red belt, the two flaps slithering in the wind like snakes on the prowl.  
  
He stood atop a small tree, some 30 feet in the air. From the voice, Shino had expected to encounter someone much larger and more imposing. He need not walk up to the man to see that his opponent would barely reach his forehead in height. Shino laughed at the site of the man. "What's this, Kaine sends children as her warriors. Have I killed that many of your soldiers that you resort to such levels?"  
  
Akron looked at Shino and smiled; his voice carried surprisingly well across the clearing. "Ah, Shinnigami Shino, I presume. We most certainly didn't expect your presence to be guarding that woman... nonetheless I will dispatch of you anyways."  
  
Shino looked at Akron and laughed, "You?! Dispatch ME? Hah! We shall s-" Shino barely had time to finish his sentence before Akron was upon him. Wielding two wakazashi blades, he attempted to skewer Shino in two, only to lock blades with Shino's own katana.  
  
"Such speed," Akron stammered, the majority of his strength going towards the power-struggle. "Higher then we... anticipated... for a mere half- breed. But you are not my rival." Akron smirked as a cone of flame shot out at Shino, the blast sending him crashing into the nearest tree with enough force to crack the trunk.  
  
"Game... Over." Akron said triumphantly from a distance; his pride soon to be shattered as Shino rose from the ground. "Impossible!" Akron shouted, but his disbelief lasted but a second as he launched a second attack on Shino. This time, it was Shino who caught Akron off guard.  
  
Akron didn't even have enough time to react before Shino countered. The idle body he was charging suddenly disappeared, only to reappear behind him. The sound of metal cutting flesh and clothing seemed to emanate for miles. Akron let out a cry of pain but did not falter or topple; instead he turned to face Shino again.  
  
"I... don't know how this is possible..." Akron stuttered, obviously once again surprised. "You're... faster, than me... ME... no... No one will know of this... YOU MUST DIE!" A violent flame aura manifested around Akron, the heat of the flames caused trees yards away to spontaneously erupt into flames.  
  
Akron laughed as he watched Shino, but the lack of emotion in Shino's face further enraged him. "DIE" he shouted as he shot off a wall of flame which seemed to take the form of a speeding train. The impact shook the frame of the earth itself as Shino was sent into a small cluster of trees which shortly toppled onto his fallen body. The trees burst into flames under the heat.  
  
"No!" cried a woman's voice somewhere behind Akron. It was Xiaoli; apparently she had not listened and had stayed even when it seemed Shino had lost. Akron watched her in the distance, smiling all the while. He slowly walked towards her, but as she turned to run he was already upon her and had her by the wrist.  
  
"What have we here... well, well, if it isn't the traitorous runt." A perverted glint came to his eyes. "A deep dark forest, no one alive around for miles... no one to hear you scream..." lustfully, he ran his tongue along the side of her neck, "I'd say your in a very... bad... situation..."  
  
He took out a single metal chain and wrapped it around her wrists; melding the ends together with his flame to form an effective set of handcuffs. Violently throwing her to the ground, he laughed and looked down upon her. "Don't worry," he said, "It won't hurt... much..." He started to laugh manically, until a voice rang out from the clearing. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!" 


End file.
